Zugzwang
by InfinityForever7
Summary: In which Beck and Jade play chess. Very fluffy oneshot- rated T for some language and a little suggestiveness.


"You're kidding me, right?"

Jade's voice, a little too loud in the confined space of the RV, resounds in my ears as I turn around from making my tiny bed's rumpled covers lie flat.

Oh no. No, no, no. She's pulling my old chessboard from under the couch, where I'd apparently shoved it a few years ago after quitting my eighth-grade chess club. The board and its matching set of finely carved wooden pieces had been an end-of-year gift from my science teacher, Mr. Mckennon, after I had confided in him my passion for the game and all of its intricacies. He had convinced me to join the chess club, and for the first month and a half I was happily immersed in the air of friendly competition among the members, learning all sorts of fascinating new strategies and tactics. Unfortunately, people began to notice that the _cool kid, _Beck Oliver, was hanging out with the _chess nerds _every Wednesday after school. For this apparently unforgivable breach of middle-school social boundaries, I was mercilessly teased and ostracized by most; eventually, it became too much and I showed up at chess club one Wednesday, quickly explained the situation to the members, and trudged home. I kept my love of chess a secret when I transferred to Hollywood Arts, forgetting that I even had a chessboard in my possession.

Her incredulous tone, accompanied by the grin she's clearly struggling to suppress, brings back the unpleasant memories of the bullying I endured. I sigh resignedly and plop down on my half-made bed, certain I'm about to endure a sound ribbing as she unearths the plastic bag of black and white pieces. With an inscrutable expression on her face, she takes a few steps over to the bed and plunks them and the board down on the low table next to it that serves as a nightstand.

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose, sighing and preparing for the worst. What I don't expect is the gentle brush of her hand on my thigh, and my eyes fly open to see that she's straddling me; her face is only an inch or two from mine.

"Who would've thought that the great Beck Oliver was a closet chess nerd?" She whispers, her breath brushing softly against my lips as hers curl up at the edges. I'm about to lean up and close the thin gap that separates us- when her voice gets that low and husky it's all I can do to not just flip her over right now and-

She's gone from my bed, leaving me slightly dazed and with a mouth I can't remember how to close for a few seconds. As I raise my head to look around, I hear the clacking sounds of wood against wood as Jade dumps the pieces onto the chessboard and begins setting them up.

I run a hand through my hair, surprised I'm not being raked over the coals for my love of the game. Jade's so engrossed with making sure that the pieces are in the right positions, each one in the exact center of its starting square, that she doesn't notice me standing up until my hand reaches out to slide a rook into its proper position. Wordlessly, she continues shuffling the pieces around until she's satisfied with their arrangement, and then turns to me with a mischievous light in her eyes.

"Want to play?"

Half an hour later, I'm sitting on the floor, studying the arrangement of the final few pieces on the black and white squares of the board. She'd decided for some reason that it would be better if we played on the carpet, and I wasn't in the mood to dispute it.

The game had come down to just three pieces: Jade's white king, which by now is close to being trapped in a corner square, and my black king and queen, with which I'm employing one of my favorite strategies.

It's my move, and I figure that I could win on this turn if I make the right move. I carefully lift the white queen from its square, but hesitate as I see that Jade's directing a wicked grin at me from across the board. My hand wavers, and _damn _if she isn't dead sexy, but we have a game to finish and I have to win so I plunk my piece down triumphantly and-

_Crap._

Crap, crap, crap- did I _really _just move my queen to the wrong square?

Nice going, Oliver. Real nice.

A second look over the board tells me that the situation isn't as bad as it could be; though I made a mistake, Jade can't move her king anywhere without landing in check from one of my pieces. I would have preferred a straight checkmate, but this is better than nothing.

"I've got you in a _zugzwang," _I announce with a triumphant grin. Jade's eyebrows tug together confusedly.

"And what, you arrogant prick, is a _zugz_-whatever?"

I merely smile wider at her words, knowing that she doesn't mean them; Jade likes to win. If I were anyone else, she'd probably have stormed off by now from my teasing. I consider it payback for her calling me a chess nerd earlier.

"It's a type of situation where any move you make will only harm you, but you can't pass your turn in chess or anything, so you have to move a piece."

Jade's fingers tighten briefly around the edges of the chessboard, and I know she's contemplating tipping it over as her lips flatten into a line. Instead, she huffs and, pointedly ignoring me, knocks over her king with a flick of her finger. As she turns her gaze away from the board, crossing her arms and looking away in a stiff, regal mock-pout that's clearly fake, she mutters a "Fuck you" that I know she doesn't mean.

"Language, Jade," I mutter jokingly; she responds by sticking her tongue out, still looking away from me. As I carefully slide the chessboard to the side, I see her gaze flicker towards me out of the corner of my eye. I know she's wondering what I'm doing, but she has to keep up her uncaring façade, so she can't ask me.

As I begin to move across the floor, it's almost in slow-motion that I see her turn back to me with a shocked look on her face; then all at once I have a struggling Jade in my arms, squirming around as I dig my fingers into her sides.

"_BECK!" _She squeals indignantly, her bare (for once) feet kicking feebly at my calves as I flop onto my back, pulling her with me. Her sides are shaking so hard with laughter as I keep tickling her that soon she's left gasping for breath, and I give her a break. My arms encircle her waist while I wait.

As her panting calms down to a normal breathing speed, I smirk proudly and say in a singsong voice, "You're in a zugzwang again, Jadey."

Her elbow digs into my side as she replies in an irritated tone, "Don't call me that, you asshole." But I know she's hiding a smile.

\;;/****\;;/

**A/N: SO MUCH FLUFF. Really.**

**This came to me a while ago while I was thinking about chess. I'm aware that technically, the position Jade was in wasn't really a zugzwang- it was technically a stalemate. But OH WELL. Creative liberties.**

**ALSO! A background actress on Victorious has basically confirmed that Bade is getting back together…our ship WILL float again sometime in the future, my friends!**

**Please review and all that. I seriously don't know if this was good or just plain stupid. :/**

**~IF7**


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